In Her Arms
by SkittlesTheUnicorn
Summary: Somewhere in the new world, Luffy dreams of his lost brothers, and Nami is there to comfort him. How will the navigator react to Luffy's darker side?
1. Dreaming

__Hi! Um... This is my first fanfic, so sorry if it's a little iffy at first. :) Also, I really suck at naming things, so my apologies for the crappy title. I'm not really sure where I'm going with this, I just had an idea for a story. So, if you like the first chapter(or even if you don't), please review so I can get better at this! Thanks, and I hope you like it! :D

I do not own One Piece, or any of the characters, so don't sue me. :P

* * *

_He was sitting on the lion's head of the Sunny, watching as the sun sank below the misty horizon. A sudden flash of white light blinded him momentarily. When he regained his vision, he nearly fell backwards off of his perch in surprise. A small boat was floating in the water in front of him. Two men were standing in it, waving up at him. One had dark hair framing his face, an orange hat set atop it. His face was dotted with little freckles. He was bare-chested, wearing only black shorts and boots. Luffy recognized him immediately as his older brother. "Ace?!" he shouted, incredulous. He had watched him die right before his eyes only two years earlier in the war. So, how could it be possible for him to be standing there? _

_He shifted his gaze from Ace to the man next to him. He wore blue shorts and an open blue suit jacket, exposing his chiseled torso. A white scarf was tied loosely around his neck. He was missing a tooth, and his scruffy blonde hair was covered by a black top hat. Strapped around it was a pair of blue goggles. Luffy couldn't believe what he was seeing. _No! It can't be… _ "Sabo?!" He gawked at his older brothers in utter disbelief. They laughed and shouted up to him, "Luffy! Get your ass down here! We've been waiting for you!" _

_It was then that he noticed the symbol on the black pirate flag waving above the boat. It was the same as the one they'd flown over their tree house all those years ago. He grinned widely, exposing all of his teeth. He grabbed the mane of the lion's head and stepped back, preparing to launch himself into the boat. _

_When he looked up, he realized that the boat was slowly drifting away into the mist. He panicked and rocketed forward, trying desperately to catch up. His brothers were still waving and calling for him, but their voices were slowly fading away. He reached out a hand to the brothers he had loved so much, but even with his rubber powers, he couldn't touch them. As he soared above the dark ocean, he called out, "ACE! SABO! Please, don't go! Don't leave me!" He continued to shout after them until he fell into the icy water with a loud SPLASH. He felt his strength drain away, leaving him to sink helplessly into the deep, dark ocean. _

He flung himself into a sitting position as his eyes jerked open, his hand still reaching desperately after his lost brothers. He slowly lowered his arm when he realized he was back in his ship, on his hammock in the men's quarters. A quick glance around him revealed that he was the last one to wake up. He snatched his hat off the ground where it had fallen and set it safely atop his head.

He lowered the rim to hide the tears that were spilling silently from his eyes. He hugged his knees to him as his shoulders shook with grief. Soft moans of sorrow and regret escaped from somewhere deep inside his chest. He bit his lips tightly together to stop the noise. This was the first time he'd had a dream like this since setting sail from the Saboady Archipelago. He hated how weak and helpless it made him feel. He thought he'd moved past this, to continue his adventure, but it turned out he was wrong.

The door to the men's quarters flew open with a BANG, making him jump. He wiped his wet face with his shirt as well as he could before looking up at whoever had entered the room. It was Nami, and she was furious. "LUFFY! What the hell are you still doing sleeping?! Do you realize what time it is?! If you don't get up RIGHT NOW, you won't get any breakfast! Hey! Are you listening—" She stopped yelling when she noticed his arms still wrapped around his knees. She stepped into the room and kneeled in front of his hammock, staring up into his red face. "Luffy? Are you okay?" She tilted his hat up so she could see his eyes, still wet with tears. Her brown eyes were full of concern. "Did something happen? Was it a dream?" She wiped the tears from his eyes with her thumb, her hand lingering on his cheek before dropping back down to her side.

"Nami…" he said, staring down at her. He felt his lip quiver and pulled her into his arms. He rested his head on her shoulder and cried softly into her neck. Nami slowly brought her arms up to wrap tightly around her distraught captain. It was heartbreaking to see him so… vulnerable. He was usually so strong and confident, his smile rarely dropping from his face. But now, his whole body was shaking with sadness and regret. She didn't quite know how to deal with this side of Luffy. Normally, he wouldn't need this kind of comfort, but something had obviously happened to make him like this. She rubbed soothing circles into his back, waiting patiently for him to compose himself.

When his tears finally stopped, he stayed in her warm embrace for a moment, savoring the comfort it gave him. He reluctantly pulled back, slipping out of her arms. He looked down at the floor, not really sure what to say. He glanced up at her, noticing the wet patch running down her shirt. "Sorry," he mumbled thickly. "I ruined your shirt."

She hit him halfheartedly. "Shut up, you idiot, it's just a shirt. Are you okay now?"

He nodded. "Yeah… I just need a minute." She sighed and stood up to leave. She wanted to know what had caused this sudden change in him, but she didn't want to push him into doing something he'd rather not do. "Nami…" His voice made her pause, hand on the door handle. "Could you… not tell the others about this? I don't want them to worry." She turned to look at him and was surprised to see his eyes were boring into hers, pleading.

She nodded. "A-alright, I won't say anything." He looked away, releasing her. She opened the door and stepped out onto the deck. He sighed; half-wishing he was still in the navigator's arms.


	2. Past

Hi! Sorry it took so long to update! I wrote a few different versions of this chapter before coming to this one. I still don't think it's the best, but I don't think delaying in uploading it is going to do anything about that. I know I just skipped over most of the day, but I wanted to have their conversation at sunset. I'm going to attempt to make the next chapter not-so-angsty and more exciting, but I'm still new at this, so... Also, I want to give a **HUGE** thank-you to everybody that favorited or followed this story and especially those of you who reviewed! Seriously, I did not expect this to get such a positive reaction. You guys really made my day. :D So, THANK YOU! Oh, and one more thing: if you have any ideas for how you want this story to go, I would greatly appreciate it. I'm still not really sure where I'm going with this, so all input is welcome! Thanks! :) Okay, on to the story!

I don't own One Piece, so yeah... Don't sue me. :P

* * *

Nami walked into the galley, where everyone else had already sat at the table, waiting for Sanji to serve breakfast. The blonde was twirling his way over to her, holding a cup of steaming tea. "Nami-swaaaaaaaaan! I've prepared some tea for you, my beauty!"

She took the cup from him and sat down in her usual spot next to Robin. "Thank you, Sanji-kun," she said, her smile causing him to dance around, chanting her name in a sing-song voice. Zoro rolled his eyes.

Ignoring the cook, Usopp turned to Nami. "Oi, Nami, didn't you go down to get Luffy? Where is he?" Everyone turned expectantly towards her.

"Yeah, it's not like him to be late for a meal. I hope he's not sick…" Chopper said, his voice full of worry.

Nami fiddled with her teacup. "Well…" She was saved from explaining when the person in question burst into the room. _Good to see he's back to normal, _Nami thought, watching Luffy hop energetically to his seat. All signs of his tears had vanished, a huge grin in their place. He danced excitedly, waiting for the delicious breakfast Sanji had prepared.

The cook set out large plates full of pancakes, eggs, sausages, and bacon. "Eat up," he said, leaning against the counter to watch—he had already eaten his breakfast before the others had arrived. As usual, it was a mad scramble for everyone to take what they wanted before the captain's greedy hands snatched it all up.

When the plates were empty and the crew's stomachs were full, they sat back, chatting animatedly. Nami watched her captain carefully, searching for anything unusual in his behavior. _Either he's forgotten about it, or he's just putting on an act for the others._ She suspected it was the latter.

She felt someone was watching her and looked around to see it was Robin. The older woman was staring at her, a small smile on her lips. Her dark blue eyes flitted briefly in Luffy's direction before coming back to Nami. The navigator blushed and quickly took a drink from her tea to escape the speculating gaze.

The conversation had died down some and Sanji was starting to clear the plates. "Oi, Luffy, you wanna go fishing?" Usopp asked, standing up to leave.

Luffy jumped up, answering with an enthusiastic "YEAH!" before running to the door.

"You wanna come too, Chopper?" Usopp called back at the little reindeer.

"Of course!" he cheered, trotting excitedly after them. Zoro left soon after, supposedly to take a nap, with Brook trailing behind. That skeleton seemed to be always following either Zoro or Luffy wherever they went. Despite being several decades older, he really looked up to them. Franky left to go work on some thingamajig down in his workshop, leaving Nami alone with Robin and Sanji. The navigator sighed. She didn't feel like dealing with the archaeologist studying her or the cook fawning over her. She stood up to go work on her maps.

* * *

The sun was sinking slowly behind the pink horizon. It had been a pretty normal day for the Straw Hats—at least, as normal as it could be with this crew. The mood around the ship was pretty relaxed. Usopp and Franky were tinkering below deck, the sound of their work barely audible above the sounds of the ocean surrounding them. Sanji was busy in the kitchen, planning their meals for the coming week. Zoro was, as usual, napping against the mast, his mouth wide open in a snore. Robin and Nami were reading not far from him. Chopper was lying down on the lawn deck, listening as Brook played a soft tune on his violin. Even Luffy, who was usually bouncing off the walls, was sitting quietly on his special seat, watching the sunset.

He was feeling rather bummed out. Even though he _knew_ it would never happen, he couldn't help but wait for the little boat to come. He sighed, wishing he could just forget the dream. It was one thing to still be upset about Ace, but Sabo?! It had been twelve years since his death. He was sure he had accepted it and moved on a long time ago. He was very disappointed in himself. _If I can't even let that go, the how can I possibly move forward and achieve my dream?!_ He was so lost in thought (which didn't happen very often—Luffy was the kind of guy to rely more on instinct than intelligence.) that he didn't notice his redheaded navigator walk up behind him. At least until he felt her hand land gently on his shoulder. He jumped and would have fallen into the ocean had it not been for his excellent reflexes.

He righted himself and turned to frown at Nami. "You scared me!" he said accusingly.

She gave him a small smile. "Sorry… Um, Luffy… Are you alright? You've been pretty quiet and you've got your 'thinking face' on."

He laughed. "I have a 'thinking face'?" She just stared at him, waiting for him to give her an answer. He could see how worried she was. _Well, it's not like she doesn't have a right to be after what happened this morning… I know I'D be worried if I'd seen my nakama act like that…_ "Nami, I'm fine. I'm just thinking—that's all."

She sighed. "That's what worries me."

He frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?!"

She waved him off. "Nothing…" He 'Hmph'-ed and turned back to the sunset. "Luffy… It's just… You're not acting like yourself. You're scaring me, Luffy."

He twisted his whole body around to face her. His face was serious now. "I'm sorry for scaring you. I don't know why I acted like that this morning… I mean, I accepted their deaths a long time ago. So why did I dream that _last night_?" The last sentence was more to himself than to Nami.

She was confused. _'_Their _deaths'? I had a feeling this had something to do with his brother, but who else is he talking about? Whitebeard? They weren't _that_ close… were they? Did someone else die that I don't know about? _"Have you had dreams like this before?" she asked aloud.

He thought about it. "Well, no, not like this one. They were _both_ in it. That's never happened before."

"'They' who?"

He stared at her as if that should be obvious. "My brothers."

_Wha-? Brothers? Ace wasn't the only one? But he said 'their deaths', so does that mean Ace wasn't the only brother that he lost? Poor Luffy…_ "Why didn't you tell us you had another brother?"

"I didn't really think I needed to. We were never going to run into him, and it never came up."

She frowned at that, and then asked, "What was he like?"

He smiled. "His name was Sabo. He was the same age as Ace. He was always nice to me and didn't make fun of my Gomu Gomu no Mi like Ace did. When Ace and I got into a fight, Sabo was always the one to stop it. He was really strong, too. He and Ace beat me every single time we fought."

She smiled at him. She could tell how much he had adored and looked up to his brothers. "So… What happened to Sabo?"

He paused, staring down at his hands. "Well, Sabo was in a noble family, but his parents never really loved him. All they cared about was money and social status. So, when his parents took him back, he ran away to the sea. But at the same time he was setting out, a Tenryuubito was coming into town." His hands clenched into fists. "I wasn't there, so I didn't actually see it happen, but I heard about it. Sabo's boat was a little ways away from the Tenryuubito's ship. He just wanted to sail past it out to sea, but the Tenryuubito didn't want to let him. He destroyed Sabo's boat without a second thought, and Sabo either got hit or he drowned." He looked up at Nami. His eyes were burning with anger. "I really hate those Tenryuubito. They've hurt too many of my friends." She stared at him, not really sure what to say. _Luffy… _

After a moment of silence, he turned his head to watch as the sun finally sank below the horizon. He slowly uncurled his fists, setting his anger aside. He closed his eyes, listening to Brook's playing.

Nami watched him for a while before reaching her arms up to wrap around his waist from behind. He stiffened in surprise. She pressed her forehead between his shoulder blades and whispered into his back, "I'm sorry, Luffy. I had no idea…"

He smiled. "Nami—"

Before he could say anything more, she released him and stepped back. "Well, good night, captain. I'll see you in the morning," she said, and then headed for the women's quarters. He sighed and shook his head, hopping down from his special seat to head to bed as well.


End file.
